Because of its ozone depletion properties, Refrigerant 22, which for many years has been the most commonly used refrigerant in water chillers, is being phased out in accordance with the Montreal Protocol.

Legislation now exists which forbids the supply of new chillers with R22 with R407C and R134A as the most common alternatives..

For those sites where R22 chillers are in place, supplies of R22 will be available until 2015, unless current legislation is changed to bring the phase out date forward.

Although R22 will be available for some years to come, because of its ozone depleting properties, severe penalties can be imposed when it has been found to be leaking to atmosphere through neglect or improper maintenance.

Opportunities do exist to replace R22 with zero depletion refrigerants and one being R29 which has been specifically designed to replace R22 without need for modifications to the chiller. As well as a zero ozone depletion potential, it is non toxic and non flammable. ..

Whether or not the incentive exists to replace R22 because of environmental concerns and the penalty’s which can be imposed for lack of care, the change to Isceon 29 can bring a  benefit in terms of running costs.

Controlled trials carried out by Isceon have shown that replacing R22 with Isceon 29 can reduce chiller operating costs of between 12% and 20%. In the main, these savings occur as a result of lower compression ratio’s and it follows that as a result of this, compressor and other component life cycles could be prolonged.

For a quotation to replace R22 in your chiller with Isceon 29 please call the Coolmation Service Desk on Freephone 0800 783 9559.

Coolmation Service Ltd has a Refcom Certificate of Approval, registering the company as one being competent to handle refrigerant gases in accordance with the Refcom register of competent companies and all of Coolmations Service Engineers have the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry Boards (ACRIB) certificate in the Safe Handling of Refrigerants. These accreditations will become legal requirements in the near future.